Time Slips Away

I bet you thought we’d given up on RVing, didn’t you. I haven’t blogged in almost a YEAR! What has happened to me??

We are still RVing our little hearts out. We’ve been around the country almost 2 times! We’ve stopped at some familiar haunts and discovered new ones. We’ve had trials and tribulations and also a heck of a lot of fun! But we’re still at it!

When we first started this adventure almost a year and a half ago we were buzzing from place to place. A few days here, a few days there, maybe even stopping for a week! But that pace gets tiring really fast. It’s not difficult, per se, to pack up and move. But all the time driving (which equals less time working) and gas money between stops is exhausting.

We initially had to take some time to figure out exactly how to work while on the road. This wasn’t a function of logistics as much as developing a new business plan and executing it as well as working together. And once we really got the hang of it it became apparent that we should sit tight for a while to accommodate all the conference calls and work that needed to get done.

Due to the El Nino conditions this year we skipped California. We cut our stay in Florida short this past winter and headed west sooner. We’ve been hashing (our beer drinking running club) a lot more across that country than we did last year! We spent more time in southern Utah, including a whole week in Moab in March. Which brings me to the first serious break-down we’ve had on the road.

Breaking down in the middle of a road trip in any vehicle can really put a damper on things. If it’s your camper that breaks down, well, that’s even more concerning. But when your HOUSE breaks down….that’s a whole new can of worms.

We were headed to southern Utah, killing a bit of time (luckily) before we were to meet Mike’s oldest daughter and her boyfriend in Moab for a week, complete with all four of us running a half marathon! As we were passing through the northwestern tip of Arizona, while driving in the Virgin CANYON we had another RV pass is making gestures. Oh boy, we have a flat tire on the camper. When you’re driving a camper with three axles you don’t automatically know you’ve blown a tire.

But where to pull over?? We were driving through a windy gorge! Luckily we found a pull off most likely used for construction vehicles. Just big enough for us to safely get off the road. But where were we?

Murphy’s Law states you will have car trouble in the middle of a canyon with no cell service.

We got out to take a look at the damage and Mike immediately realized we didn’t blow a tire. The tire was about to fall off!

We unhitched the camper, knocked the tire off and headed out to find help. Did I mention there was a concrete barrier between the lanes of traffic? We could only continue going the way we came and had no idea how long until we were out of the canyon or how far we’d have to go to get back to the camper.

Luckily we were only 2 miles from the end of the canyon and the Utah state line and the town of St. George, Utah. We found a mechanic, relayed our issues and were told to go pick up the camper and limp back to the garage. And we did. Slowly at 30 MPH. Through a winding gorge.

What turned out to be a tire falling off was actually a whole host of issues the mechanic found under there. Lucky for us this “minor” tire issues alerted us to a bunch of things that could have gone wrong soon that could have resulted in some serious, really expensive issues. Like… and axle falling off!

We were sidelined for a few days but we weren’t complaining! The mechanic was great and walked us through everything to make sure we knew what he was doing and what he found. (I’ve never had such a great experience with a mechanic before!) and the town of St. George is beautiful! We walked and biked the paths in town for hours every day we were there.

Once everything was repaired and replaced we headed out! We eventually made our way to Moab and ran the Canyonlands Half Marathon through a beautiful canyon on the edge of Arches National Park.

We’re now in South Carolina. Hanging at my dad’s for a bit while the weather is moderate and sunny. Ok, with an occasional spring shower….

I’m going to try and record our travels again. It’s so easy with Facebook to just drop a quick update. But I want to make sure my Aunt Dotty gets to hear about our travels since she’s not on facebook!!

Adventure: Julie and Michael Style

We fell in love while running and drinkin' beer. Our aversion to boredom and lake effect snow put us in a truck, hauling our house on wheels across the United States. Click that "About Julie and Michael" button, or choose from menu at top right to read the rest of our story.